| 2/21: Cuzco and the Incas |
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| Written by Josh Seamon | |
| Monday, 23 February 2009 | |
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Hello everyone, Here's how yesterday went: Summary: Another perfect day. At 8:30am we were at the Lima airport food court waiting for our flight. We had had a nice breakfast, caught our bus and then Nevers glided us through the ticketing process. We picked up a nice round of relaxation and then went through security to our plane. On the way to the airport Nevers figured out how to give us access to something we had asked for the day before -- the Pacific! He got our driver to pull over close to the water and we had 5 minutes to get our feet wet. It was alot of fun, especially when a wave totally soaked the lower half of my legs. After we cleared security, which went very quickly because it's currently the low season -- Nevers tells me that it's insane in June - August, we boarded a great flight. The Cuzco airport was also very, very nice having just been renovated the year before. In the airport Karen and I found a large map of Peru and found the closest city to where Nevers grew up -- Iquitos -- WAY up in the north east of Peru. I'm so visiting one day. Our flight went smoothly and I was woken to the laughter of our group about 10 minutes before our decent through the clouds. Once we broke through we were presented with a sea of green -- such a contrast to the desert city of Lima. Rolling hills and mountains and a vibrant green everywhere. The plane made a fast 180 loop and we landed. After departing and walking to the baggage claim, right as we emerged to the turnstile we were in the middle of our first "tourist column" of guides, services, and other product sellers. We got our bags, went outside and met our bus and guide, Gabrielle. We got our first glimpse of the area and then took a 20 minute ride to our hotel with Gabrielle giving us a tour along the way. At the hotel we dropped our bags and had 30 minutes to rest before meeting in the lobby. After meeting in the lobby Nevers walked us to the main square where we got to see the city center. We ate a nice lunch of lemonade and pizza and the kids learned more about how to interact with street vendors. Nevers told us more about the city and then we walked across the street to meet our guide for the day. After meeting our guide and snapping some more group shots -- the kids have almost gotten totally used to me -- we went into Cuzco Cathedral. The Cathedral was downright amazing. Made up of many different types of architecture due to earth quake damage, you can also see Inca blocks used in the pillars. Great colors, metal work and ornate side sculptures. We got to see the small tomb and the melding of Spanish and Inca religion. Next we got back on the bus and traveled 20 minutes to Saqsawaman, a large Inca site. The weather was perfect, clear, and sunny. The large polygonal Inca stones, the size of a house, fit perfectly together, combined with the landscape was awe inspiring. Our guide told us all about the history of the site while we soaked in the gorgeous day. We walked down to the other side, took our group picture (attached), also saw some very cute alpacas and got back on the bus. 10 minutes later we were at another Inca site -- small and more embedded into one large structure. We explored, saw the burial site, and learned about the place from our guide. 20 minutes later we made it to another Inca site, Pucapucara, a smaller yet even more picturesque site overlooking a valley. A herd of alpacas (12 or so) walked around us as we entered and we spent a relaxing time sitting on the far side of the ruins taking in the sun and talking about the region. Our guide had to remind us that we eventually had to leave and we got back on the bus. Next we went to Qorikancha, an operation Dominican cloister, built on top of a large Inca site. Many of the Inca room walls are perfectly in tact, which is so very impressive. The Inca rooms are around the edge of the central open area, and the Palisades around the edge are full of paintings. In the center of the area is the navel (Cuzqo) of the world. We continued our tour through that area and then saw the large gold pictogram explanation of the Inca beliefs, along with large recent painting of the Inca universe. We had been on our feer for a while at this point and we headed back to the main square on foot for dinner. We ate on the second story of a building, facing the square, which soon after we arrived became dark and then lite. It was another wonderful sight. We had a starter of vegetable soup, and then a refreshing pasta topped with fresh tomatoes and basil. Desert was ice cream. The whole meal was perfect. While we were having dessert a band of three local musicians and played for 20 minutes. They played the pan pipes (two set), a small guitar, a drum set, some chimes, and a second guitar -- it was a wonderful performance. We walked out with many Cd's. We walked back to the hotel and made it back around 7:45. At 8:30 we met back up in the lobby and I got to tell the group about an activity Nevers had set up -- an idea he had -- something that I have tried to do on my other two EF trips but never managed to do -- go to a soccer game! On Sunday, 3/1 the local pro team will be playing the Lima pro team, the most popular team in the country. We're going to have great seats and get to experience the game with 42,000 other people. We are so excited. After that announcement and going over trip reminders and details, 9 kids went immediately to sleep and I took three back to explore the city square. Walking around was thrilling. There is a wonderful energy to Cuzco that we enjoyed seeing. The square at night was gorgeous. We walked up a side street and watched around 20 teens dancing to pan pike music. It was an impressive, totally in sync site. We then walked back, stopping at a small grocery store for water and tea, and made it back around 10. Another perfect day. It's now 6:20am on 2/22. I'm heading off in a bit to attend Mass with several students. Then at 9 we head out for a very busy day of touring. |
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